England get their excuses ready

Michael Vaughan won't be anywhere near a cricket pitch until next year...but is still England captain © Getty Images

If England's Ashes triumph in 2005 was a masterpiece of forward planning allied to extreme good fortune, then the return series in Australia is developing into the complete mirror-image. Luck has clearly deserted the English since last September, but to judge by today's convoluted captaincy conundrum, so too has the management's judgment.

To cut a long story short, Michael Vaughan remains the England captain for the foreseeable future, even though he will not be setting foot on a cricket pitch for the foreseeable future. Andrew Flintoff remains England's stand-in captain until such time as Vaughan is passed fit again ... although not, of course, for next week's first Test against Pakistan. Instead Andrew Strauss, fresh from his 5-0 drubbing against Sri Lanka, is left to stand in for the stand-in - a wonderful vote of confidence ahead of one of the most taxing series in the world game.

It was left to David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors, to explain the logic behind England's muddled thinking, and try as he might, he couldn't. "The reason why the scenario is as it is," he said, "is we believe Flintoff is the right man to captain England at the present time."

But if that was truly the case, then surely he would have been named on more than just a temporary basis, especially given the magnitude of the challenges that await this winter. "Of course he's a stand-in," Graveney later confirmed. "At no stage have we talked about Vaughan relinquishing the captaincy."

All summer long, England have given the impression of a side treading water, never more so than in the weeks since Sri Lanka's third-Test victory at Trent Bridge. In fact, they haven't looked all that different from the nation's cosseted footballers, and if Sven Goran Eriksson was accused of having an undroppable captain in David Beckham, at least Becks was obliged to hand the captain's armband over when he limped out of last week's quarter-final against Portugal.

Vaughan, on the other hand, remains untouchable even at a time when his very international future is in doubt. On the one hand it is a testament to the extreme authority he has brought to the job in his superb three-year stint. On the other hand, it is a worrying indictment of the lack of leadership further down the line. By hedging their bets even for a series as seismic as the Ashes, England seem to be travelling with a readymade excuse for failure.

Within minutes of the announcement, the odds on an Australian victory had been slashed and little wonder. By the end of the Sydney Test, Flintoff (and Strauss) will have stood in for Vaughan in 15 consecutive Tests, which amounts to almost half of his 33-Test reign. In that time, Flintoff will not have been allowed the freedom to mould a new-look team in his own immense image and, after Ricky Ponting was so wounded at Vaughan's hands last summer, it is inconceivable that he will not already be plotting his vengeance. 'Freddie mate, your own management don't trust you.'

Perhaps it's an admission that Flintoff was appointed against the selectors' better judgement. Vaughan himself wrote after the Ashes that Freddie was not aloof enough to be captaincy material, and yet he is so loved by the players and public alike - and so crucial to England's fortunes - that there is no desire whatsoever to change him. "We wouldn't have appointed him unless we thought that he could cope with the burden," insisted Graveney, but then there's the rub. They haven't actually appointed him at all.

"Before every Test, Freddie makes a very strong point that he's doing the job until Vaughan gets fit," Graveney added. "Michael Vaughan remains England captain even though he will be unavailable until early 2007 ... it's complicated." It's also an excuse that will start to wear thin if England's performances haven't picked up by mid-November.

In the shorter term, of course, England have to find a stand-in for Flintoff himself ahead of next Thursday's first Test at Lord's, a prospect that Graveney was hardly relishing. "It doesn't take Einstein to work out that, to replace a world-class allrounder, we need to weaken one department or another."

It shouldn't follow, however, that to replace a world-class captain, you have to undermine a world-class allrounder. Perhaps, if they really don't think the men at their disposal have sufficient authority, the selectors should dispense with the doublethink - along with their queue of stand-in captains - and hand the reins to someone entirely left-field.

Robert Key hasn't done too badly for England A today. Or how about Kevin Pietersen? He's driven, he's got authority, and he's earned bucketloads of respect from the Aussies. Or maybe these are just some more muddled thoughts on a confusing day. There are a few of them swirling around at the moment.